London midday: Stocks fall on oil price slide, worse-than-expected UK data

London stocks declined on Wednesday as oil prices fell and as UK manufacturing and industrial production data missed forecasts.

Oil prices edged lower as Canadian oil sand production restarted following forced closures due to wildfires. Brent crude dropped 0.06% to $45.49 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate slid 0.54% to $44.42 per barrel at 1137 BST.

A report on weekly US crude inventories at 1530 BST from the Department of Energy will be closely scrutinised amid worries about an oil supply glut.

Meanwhile, UK industrial production rose 0.3% in March on the previous month, up from the 0.2% decline in February but short of consensus estimate for a 0.5% gain, the Office for National Statistics said.

UK manufacturing output increased 0.1% month-on-month, an improvement on the 0.9% decline from the month before but short of the 0.3% increase the market was expecting and the ONS’s initial estimate of 0.4% growth.

EEF chief economist Lee Hopley said more evidence was coming through that the sectors hardest hit by the oil price collapse are now bottoming out while construction related sectors seem to be holding up.

“But, in line with the early warning signal from the PMI and the drop in consumer confidence, consumer facing sectors, including motor vehicles, are seeing weaker production trends at the start of the year," she said. "Whether this proves to be temporary is yet to be seen but UK manufacturers are far from alone in seeing this trend with other data from Europe suggesting that the industrial recovery is far from secure.”

In company news, Experian was in the red after reporting a 4% drop in revenue in the year to 31 March due to foreign exchange headwinds.

Shares in Barratt Developments fell despite saying it improved its sales rate in the 19 weeks since the start of the year and confirmed market conditions remained "strong". Analyst Charlie Huggins at Hargreaves Lansdown noted that shares in housebuilders have been down of late, as measures such as price-to-book and cyclically adjusted price to earnings, mean the sector looking is trading at high valuations relative to history, meaning it could be vulnerable should the housing market slow.

Premier Oil slumped as investors raised concerns about the company’s £2bn debt pile following a trading update.

TUI was under the cosh as it revealed plans to sell UK sailing and outdoor holidays unit Specialist Group. The company said revenues in six months to March 31 of €6.79bn rose 2.7% on last year and beat analyst forecasts of €6.61bn, helped by a strong uplift in hotels and cruises that offset declines in the core tour operator business, where the UK and Northern Europe were broadly flat.

Meanwhile, mining stocks rallied with Randgold Resources, Anglo American and BHP Billiton topping the FTSE 100 as metal prices gained.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,146.25 -0.17%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,703.49 -0.13%
techMARK (TASX) 3,073.98 0.13%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 611.10p 4.32%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,080.00p 3.23%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 832.00p 2.09%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 426.50p 1.94%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,335.00p 1.91%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,074.00p 1.90%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,336.00p 1.83%
Glencore (GLEN) 136.25p 1.76%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,026.00p 1.25%
Carnival (CCL) 3,574.00p 0.87%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 210.40p -2.23%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,771.00p -2.08%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,046.00p -2.06%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 486.35p -1.94%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,158.00p -1.78%
Intu Properties (INTU) 292.40p -1.58%
Experian (EXPN) 1,250.00p -1.57%
Barclays (BARC) 160.80p -1.53%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 811.00p -1.40%
Hammerson (HMSO) 581.50p -1.36%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 110.70p 4.53%
Allied Minds (ALM) 338.60p 4.51%
Renishaw (RSW) 1,938.00p 3.86%
Ibstock (IBST) 191.70p 3.68%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 320.60p 2.89%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 153.80p 2.47%
Savills (SVS) 767.00p 2.13%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,593.00p 2.05%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 216.60p 1.98%
Greggs (GRG) 1,109.00p 1.84%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

William Hill (WMH) 308.30p -4.93%
AA (AA.) 263.20p -3.13%
Hays (HAS) 126.30p -2.92%
Cobham (COB) 159.80p -2.62%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 89.20p -2.25%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 242.40p -2.22%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 277.90p -2.11%
Workspace Group (WKP) 838.00p -1.76%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 519.50p -1.61%
Michael Page International (MPI) 400.20p -1.53%